RSF: Assange’s release is “a victory for press freedom”

PARIS, France.- The liberation of Julian Assange This represents “a victory for journalism and for freedom of the press,” the organization said on Tuesday. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which considers that the editor of Wikileaks “Not a single day should have passed” without freedom.

“We are enormously relieved that Julian Assange is finally free, a long-awaited victory for journalism and press freedom,” he said in a statement. Rebecca VincentRSF campaigns director.

‼️ The editor of @wikileaksJulian Assange is free! We are enormously relieved that this dangerous process has finally come to an end. It is a victory for journalism and press freedom, something that RSF campaigned for from the beginning. #FreeAssange pic.twitter.com/wGdatTtPuO

— RSF in Spanish (@RSF_esp) June 25, 2024

He added that “nothing can undo the last 13 years, but it is never too late to do the right thing and we welcome the US government’s action.”

Assange was released by British authorities following 1,901 days in prison in a high security prison, awaiting the decision on his release. extradition to the USAand before that he had spent seven years as a refugee in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

“He should never have spent a single day deprived of his freedom for publishing information of public interest,” Vincent stressed.

Assange’s release came following years of public action and campaigning on his behalf, in which RSF has played a central role.

Representatives of the organisation were able to visit him in the Belmarsh high-security prison and discussed his case directly with the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, to “urge them to find a political solution,” RSF recalled.

“We will continue to campaign in support of journalists around the world who are targeted for their national security reporting,” Vincent said.

The Paris-based organisation noted that although the success of the campaigns for Assange “brings enormous relief” to his family and journalists around the world, the Australian editor was deprived of his freedom for 13 years “for publishing material that was both truthful and of enormous public interest”.

However, “there has been no acceptance of responsibility for the crimes exposed in the documents leaked” by Wikileaks, RSF lamented.

He also recalled that “on a personal level, Assange’s imprisonment has taken a huge toll on his physical and mental health.”

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